SINGAPORE – At times, housewife Belinda Mohd Azmi was on the verge of tears dealing with her stubborn three-year-old daughter – the fourth of five children – who would scream for attention.
As a full-time housewife, the 30-year-old said attending to the household needs and her youngest child – a four-month-old son – left her with no time to interact with the rest of her children.
“I’m busy doing the chores and after I’m done, I’m too tired to interact with my kids. My daughter will just play and read on her own,” she added.
In October, Ms Belinda signed up to be part of the KidSTART Group programme – a weekly community-based playgroup sessions for parents with children aged up to three – after hearing it from a volunteer at the We Love Learning (WELL) centre located at Block 93 Henderson Road, just a block away from her flat.
The pilot programme, which was rolled out in October and ended on Saturday (Nov 5), comprises sessions lasting up to two hours and allows parents to learn from Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) trained facilitators on how to interact better with their children, such as using a softer tone when speaking to them.
The facilitators may also conduct home visits for families requiring additional support.
After going through the playgroup sessions, Ms Belinda said she was able to handle her daughter better, and also noticed that the little girl was calmer.
These days, she tries to handle all her five children by using the tips she had picked up from the sessions.
“Now at home, whenever I read to my daughter, I try to make it more fun and explain what the words mean. I’m like a dictionary to her,” Ms Belinda said, laughing.
The playgroup held its last session on Saturday (Nov 5), which also saw a visit from Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin.
The pilot, which involved 33 children and 29 parents, saw a good turnout rate, about 80 per cent per session.
After the trial, ECDA said it will refine the model and introduce it to the other pilot regions next year.
The initiative is meant to support around 1,000 children, aged up to six years old, from lower-income and vulnerable families earning a monthly household income of S$1,900 and below, based on the criteria of financial assistance scheme ComCare.
Since July, the ECDA shared that 283 children have come onboard various programmes under KidSTART, such as those which offer home visitation and enhanced support to preschools.
First announced at this year’s Budget, KidSTART will cost over S$20 million and will be rolled out in Kreta Ayer, Bukit Merah, Taman Jurong, Boon Lay and Geylang Serai.
For families with infants, there will be regular home visits made by trained personnel from the ECDA and KK Women’s and Children’s (KKH) to monitor their children’s growth, health and nutrition until they are three years old.
Visits will be done fortnightly in the earlier stages, and will progress to monthly after the home visitor has assessed that the parents are more confident in caring their child. A total of 50 infants are now under the programme, said the ECDA.
Regular screening will also be done for pregnant mothers at the antenatal and postnatal stages to monitor the child’s development and early detection of medical issues.
And as part of a programme to give enhanced support to preschools, child enabling executives – who will monitor the child’s progress in school and address issues relating to poor attendance – are expected to be deployed to 10 preschools operated by anchor operators PAP Community Foundation (PCF) and NTUC first campus by end of this year. The programme currently serves about 200 children.
Protesters hold placards reading "Park Guen-Hye resign!" as they stand in Gwanghwamun square in central Seoul on November 3, 2016.
South Korean prosecutors detained a former presidential aide as an influence-peddling scandal moves closer to embattled leader Park Geun-Hye, with the justice minister warning on November 3 that Park could face a probe. / AFP PHOTO
Seoul – Thousands of South Koreans took to the streets Saturday to demand embattled President Park Geun-Hye resign over a crippling corruption scandal.
Protesters chanted slogans and carried banners urging Park to step down, the day after she issued a grovelling televised apology over the influence-peddling affair which has shattered public trust in her leadership.
Some 40,000 demonstrators were expected to turn out at the rally in central Seoul, watched over by 20,000 police officers.
Police had banned protesters from marching through the streets, citing traffic congestion, but thousands were permitted to gather.
But authorities were braced for demonstrators trying to make their way towards the presidential Blue House.
In a highly personal televised address to the nation Friday, Park said the scandal involving her long-time confidante Choi Soon-Sil was “all my fault”, but denied reports linking her and Choi to a religious cult.
Park’s approval rating crashed to just five per cent this week, the lowest-ever rating for a sitting South Korean president.
“I thinks she should step down as she has lost all her moral authority as president”, a 53-year-old, who gave only his family name Ahn, told AFP.
A formal investigation is focused on allegations that Choi, 60, leveraged her close relationship with Park to coerce local firms into donating large sums to dubious non-profit foundations that she then used for personal gain.
Choi was formally arrested on Thursday on charges of fraud and abuse of power, but public anger has largely focused on allegations that she meddled in affairs of state and had access to confidential documents, despite having no official position or security clearance.
The South Korean media has portrayed Choi, whose late father was a shadowy religious leader and an important mentor to Park, as a Rasputin-like figure who wielded an unhealthy influence over the president.
“What is really irritating is the fact that Choi was acting like a regent for Park, controlling her decision-making”, said a 20-year-old political science student Kim Do-Hyun at the rally.
In an effort to restore trust in her administration, Park has reshuffled ministers and senior advisers, bringing in figures from outside her ruling conservative Saenuri Party.
Reacting to her address, the main opposition Democratic Party insisted her changes had been cosmetic and warned that it would begin a campaign for her ouster unless further steps were taken.
Park is unlikely to step down, with analysts suggesting she will limp on to the end of her term with her power severely undermined at a time of slowing economic growth, rising unemployment and elevated military tensions with North Korea.
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The ‘female Rasputin’ at centre of S Korean President Park Geun-Hye political scandal
NEW YORK – Hit animated comedy The Simpsons will return for two more seasons on US television network Fox – its 29th and 30th – and thereby will set a record as the primetime scripted series with the most episodes.
The chronicles of the life and adventures of the Simpson family, which is currently in its 28th season, broadcast its first episode in December 1989.
With season 30, The Simpsons will hit 669 episodes, breaking the record held by Western drama Gunsmoke with 635.
The show – which has won more than 30 Emmys – stars Homer, the father working for a nuclear power station, wife and voice of reason Marge, and children Bart, Lisa and Maggie.
In its early years, it regularly pulled in more than 15 million viewers with 33 million for its most-watched episode Bart Gets An F in 1990.
It is so popular that references to The Simpsons have become part of pop culture.
The show has long held the record for the most number of seasons for a scripted television show in the United States, passing Gunsmoke at 20, but declining audience figures had led to fears that it would not be renewed.
Over the years, The Simpsons has featured guest stars ranging from Michael Jackson and Ringo Starr to Lady Gaga, Dustin Hoffman and Stephen Hawking.
TOKYO – This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the Toyota Corolla, one of the world’s best-selling cars.
Since the first model went on sale in Japan on Nov. 5, 1966, some 44.3 million Corollas have been sold globally through the end of September, including the Corolla Fielder station wagon and other variants, the Japanese automaker says.
Here are some milestones along the way and where it stands today.
CAR FOR THE MASSES
In the late 1950s, as Japan’s economy recovered from World War Two, automakers aimed to produce an affordable car for the average family, most of whom didn’t have a vehicle.
Toyota Motor Corp first came out with the Publica, which wasn’t very well received. In 1966, it introduced the sportier two-door Corolla with a jaw-dropping plan: to build 30,000 of them a month at a time when Toyota’s total monthly production was 50,000 vehicles.
The car sold well as Japanese consumers aspired to get the”3 C’s” – colour TVs, cars and coolers (air conditioners). Three years after the launch, the Corolla became the country’s top-selling car and helped usher in an age of motorisation in Japan.
The man in charge of developing the original Corolla, Tatsuo Hasegawa, had designed aircraft during the war, and incorporated some aircraft aerodynamics into the new car.
His concept for the Corolla was “80-plus-points” – in short, a car with a more-than-passing grade on several counts that gave customers the feel of a better-than-average product.
For the first-generation Corolla, the going-the-extra-mile”add-on” was its sportiness, despite being a family car. Hasegawa gave the car a 4-speed manual transmission operated by a gearshift on the floor, instead of the more typical 3-speed, column shifter at the time.
The Corolla also had a 1,100cc engine, a bit larger than that of its rival, the Nissan Sunny.
Toyota has stuck to its tradition of introducing new technologies to the masses with each remodelling of the Corolla. Now in its 11th generation in Japan, the car is made in 13 countries around the world and sold in more than 150 countries.
NO LONGER KING
After 33 straight years as Japan’s top-selling model, the Corolla lost the crown in Japan to rival Honda Motor’s Fit hatchback in 2002.
It is now also outsold by the Toyota Aqua and Prius hybrid-only models as domestic customers opt for more fuel-efficient cars.
The outlook at home is bleak, with the overall car market due to shrink further along with the population.
Domestic sales of the Corolla are now about a quarter of their peak of around 400,000 in 1973. But the Corolla is still a cash cow in the United States, where it is the No.2 best-selling passenger car model so far this year, behind only the Toyota Camry.
SINGAPORE – Sergio Lopez played a big part behind the scenes as Joseph Schooling stormed to a historic gold medal at the Rio Olympics in August.
And it is the American’s work in changing mindsets of local swimmers that Gary Tan wants to build on in his new role as head coach of swimming’s National Training Centre (NTC) squad.
The Singapore Swimming Association (SSA) yesterday announced the promotion of Tan – who was assisting Lopez in the national set-up in the lead-up to this year’s Olympics – and the 34-year-old believes that there already is a stable platform for him to further develop.
Former head coach Lopez left at the end of August, after watching his one-time protege Schooling win the 100m butterfly in Rio.
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
The Straits Times, Reuters, AFP
“Sergio made a breakthrough just before he left, and I’ve managed to capitalise on it, and it’s this: the kids are a lot more open, they are giving feedback when necessary,” said the former Olympian.
He related an anecdote of Quah Zheng Wen standing up at a meeting and calling for swimmers to be accountable, and to start empowering each other to become successful in their own way.
“This kind of mindset… was never seen one and half years ago. I like the fact that we’re open now, and senior swimmers are taking a step forward to mentoring the juniors, and they are the ones who came up with that initiative,” said Tan, who along with the SSA’s technical director Sonya Porter, is taking an open-door approach to building training programmes.
But a feel-good environment alone will not help swimmers climb to the pinnacle like Schooling has.
It will need hard work, and not just that alone, says Tan.
“The belief system is there now that Joseph has done it, but the kids need to understand that it’s not just going through the grind… it’s going through the grind with everything in place,” he said.
DETAILS
“Joseph evolved in the last couple of years, in the way he’s thought about his races, and the way he’s approached his races.”
Tan cited the way Schooling and Quah paid close attention to analytics during this year’s Olympics.
He related how the team behind Schooling analysed videos of races in Rio, to figure out just what he needed to do to beat his rivals.
And it could come down to something as precise as calculating the exact number of strokes a swimmer needs to take from start to finish.
Tan will be at poolside focusing on the daily grind of coaching instead of implementing policies and creating pathways for swimmers like Lopez did before him – those responsibilities will now come under the purview of Porter.
Coaches are eventually judged on results, and it is no different for Tan, whose first big assignment will be the South-east Asia Games (SEA) in Kuala Lumpur next year, when his concept of hearts, minds and analytics will be put to the test.
At the last SEA Games, Singapore swimmers managed a record haul of 23 gold medals.
“Whether or not we surpass the number of gold medals, I want to see our swimmers grow.
“We have plans for KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to transition from where Sergio has left off, but we’re filling the gaps for now,” said Tan, who did not reveal specific targets.
He is already looking to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics where the aim is to be represented in both the men and women’s relays.
When asked how he would like to be defined, Tan said he wants to be seen as a “caring” coach who can bring success in a sustainable way.
He worked closely with Lopez in the 18 months that the American was here, and acknowledged that he has big shoes to fill. But Tan said: “What’s life without challenges?”
TAN BACKS QUAH IN OLYMPIC MEDAL BID
Photo: The Straits Times
Joseph Schooling earned the plaudits with his sensational performance at the Olympics, understandably overshadowing Quah Zheng Wen’s own historic feat in Rio.
Quah (above) became the first Singaporean man to qualify for an Olympic semi-final, in the 200m butterfly.
He also made the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly, which Schooling won.
The Singapore Swimming Association’s (SSA) newly appointed National Training Centre (NTC) squad head coach Gary Tan believes Quah has the potential to win an Olympic medal in 2020.
“For him to get that competitive environment (that he requires), he needs to take a step further and say maybe (going to the) US can be a possibility as well. I think the option is open for him to do that,” Tan told the media at the OCBC Aquatic Centre yesterday.
Quah was one of the first swimmers Tan worked with when he started out as a coach.
“I think it’s me (who understands him best) and I would give that go-ahead (for him to train in the US) if I felt that was the best decision for him.
“If he stays, we will bring in the competition for him. If he decides to go, we will continue to support him in any way possible.”
Some believe Schooling’s decision to train in America played a big part in his journey to becoming an Olympic champion, and Tan and the SSA’s technical director, Sonya Porter, are making moves to recreate a similar world-class environment at the Singapore Sports Hub’s Aquatic Centre.
Tan revealed that the wheels are in motion to engage training partners from US collegiate and club sides, the Australian Institute of Sport and Hungarian teams to come here, as well as to provide avenues for the Singapore team to train in the respective countries.
No deadline has been set for Quah to come to a decision, but Tan believes that the swimmer – who has already resumed training after a post-Olympics break – is training at a “different level” than most in Singapore.
“The sky’s the limit for the boy,” said Tan.
This article was first published on Nov 05, 2016. Get The New Paper for more stories.
In three years, rising TVB star Tracy Chu would not simply play a lawyer on the small screen.
By then, she could very well have become Hong Kong’s first actress-and-lawyer.
The 28-year-old, a former Miss Hong Kong second runner-up, told local reporters after last Saturday’s StarHub TVB Awards 2016 that she is enrolled in a Juris Doctor degree programme at the City University of Hong Kong, with the blessings of her employer, TVB.
“It’s a three-year full-time programme, so I’m at school Mondays to Fridays. But on weekends and during my semester breaks, I’d be working, either filming or attending events,” she said in Mandarin.
Chu, who bagged two awards in Singapore – for My Favourite TVB Female Character and Tokyo Bust Express The Sassy Award – had earlier shot down swirling rumours about her intention to quit showbiz.
She told news website HK01: “It’s not true that I’m jaded about showbiz. Yes, it’s tough straddling studies and work, but as much as I can, I want to do the things I like.”
When local reporters asked Chu if she was worried that audiences might forget her if she disappeared from their goggle boxes, she grinned and said: “Well, I already have work lined up till Chinese New Year. I think viewers still have plenty of opportunities to see me on screen.”
This article was first published on Nov 05, 2016. Get The New Paper for more stories.
Do not be surprised if you see Hong Kong actor Ruco Chan casually hanging out in Singapore, teeing off or scouring for properties.
One of Hong Kong broadcaster TVB’s top leading men, the 39-year-old bachelor told local reporters last Saturday after the StarHub TVB Awards 2016 at Marina Bay Sands that he loves our sunny island so much he “is thinking of migrating here”.
Chan was the biggest winner of the awards ceremony with three accolades: My Favourite TVB Actor (the equivalent of the coveted TV King title), My Favourite TVB Onscreen Couple (with actress Nancy Wu) and My Favourite TVB Theme Song.
He has won My Favourite TVB Actor three years in a row in the annual local celebration of the best in Hong Kong television, a feat unmatched by any other TVB artist.
“Singapore is an extremely blessed city to me, it has given me so much confidence in my career,” he said in Mandarin.
“Like this award (gesturing to his TV King trophy) here, I’ve received it three times. Maybe I should migrate to Singapore!”
When a reporter asked him if he was merely joking, Chan said: “No, no. I’ve been thinking about it. Seriously, Singapore’s not bad at all.
AVID GOLFER
“There are a lot of things here that I adore. I’m an avid golfer and Singapore has so many great golf courses that I can play on, definitely more than Hong Kong’s.”
He added: “Every year, I’d also check out the houses in Sentosa Cove. The houses are expensive, but very beautiful.”
The StarHub TVB Awards 2016 also saw young rising stars such as Grace Wong, Benjamin Yuen and Tracy Chu unveiled as double awards recipients.
The awards ceremony will be aired on VV Drama (StarHub Ch 855) today at 7pm and on E City (StarHub Ch 111/825) on Nov 12.
Chan impressed many fans with the martial arts series A Fist Within Four Walls, which aired in Singapore earlier this year.
The onscreen chemistry between him and co-star Wu was so tight it even sparked rumours of them dating in real life.
The actor said he did not mind the paparazzi gossip about him and Wu one bit.
“In fact, I think it was our ‘are-they-or-are-they-not-together-for-real’ relationship that made audiences love and be so engrossed in A Fist Within Four Walls,” said Chan.
“I really treasure the experience of doing the drama. Hopefully, audiences will continue to support Nancy and me in our upcoming crime thriller The Alliance, which will be aired next year.”
This article was first published on Nov 05, 2016. Get The New Paper for more stories.
Worsening conditions in one of Philippine’s most crowded jails
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
AFP
MANILA – A Philippine mayor President Rodrigo Duterte named as being involved in the illegal drug trade was shot dead in jail on Saturday (Nov 5), police said, the second local official implicated in narcotics to be killed in two weeks.
Duterte, 71, won May elections in a landslide on a promise to kill tens of thousands of criminals to prevent the Philippines from becoming a narco-state, and has launched an unprecedented war on drugs that has left more than 4,000 people dead.
He had named several local officials, policemen and judges as being involved in the narcotics trade and urged them to surrender.
In August, he accused Rolando Espinosa, the mayor of Albuera town in the central island of Leyte, and his son of drug trafficking and demanded they turn themselves in, giving police a “shoot on sight” order if the two resisted arrest.
Mayor Espinosa then surrendered to the national police chief, saying he feared for his life, and was arrested last month.
But early Saturday morning, police said Espinosa was killed in his cell in the provincial jail after he shot at officers during a search for illegal firearms.
Drug killings in Manila
Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source:
Reuters
“He fired on the raiding team. The raiding team fired back and this led to the mayor’s death,” chief inspector Leo Laraga of the regional police told AFP.
He added that another inmate accused of drug trafficking was also killed, after he too fired at the officers.
The national police said it was investigating the circumstances surrounding Espinosa’s death as well as possible collusion between guards and inmates to get guns and drugs into the jail.
Police chief Ronald dela Rosa previously said Espinosa had been listed in official records as a “drug protector”, whose son Kerwin controlled the narcotics trade in the Albuera region.
Kerwin was arrested in the United Arab Emirates last month and is set to return to the Philippines to face drug trafficking charges.
In August, six of the Espinosas’ supporters died in a gunfight with police outside the mayor’s property in Albuera where officers said they recovered guns and several grenades.
Another mayor accused of drug trafficking was killed in the southern Philippines in late October.
Police said Samsudin Dimaukom and his security personnel opened fire after anti-narcotics police stopped their vehicles at a checkpoint on suspicion they were transporting illegal drugs.
SINGAPORE: Youths need to be more sensitive to the threat of terrorism, said Alex Yam, Member of Parliament for Yew Tee, on Saturday (Nov 5) at the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC Resilience Workshop and Dialogue 2016 – “United We Stand!”
“We’ve been at peace for a very long time, so it’s not so much complacency but a lack of awareness of our surroundings that could pose a danger to us,” he said.
The dialogue at Woodlands was attended by more than 300 youths from schools and tertiary institutions in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC as well as community leaders.
It aims to raise awareness among youths on terrorism threats and its impact on society and provide a platform for them to interact and exchange views with grassroots leaders on staying vigilant as a community.
The event also saw various demonstrations such as Basic CPR Awareness and Improvised First Aid Skills (IFAS) to equip youths with the knowledge to handle emergencies.
In the face of recent global and national terrorism threats, Mr Yam said that it is important for young people to deepen their understanding of the different races and cultures.
“Accepting and understanding are really on two different planes. You need to understand why there are differences to be able to accept it, rather than to brush it away and just accept it,” he said.
“Getting different people from different backgrounds to come together and really have a heart to heart talk with each other will be very useful,” he added.
On stage at food festival Taste Busan in South Korea, facing a crowd of more than 100 adoring fans, Choi Hyun Seok sings a song and plays the guitar.
Later, he signs autographs and has his picture taken with fans who have formed a snaking queue in front of a food stall in order to meet their idol.
Occasionally, the photogenic star fiddles with his floppy fringe, making sure he looks photo-ready.
Choi may be mistaken for a K-pop star, but he is actually a TV chef with a huge following, and one of the most recognisable faces in the cooking show boom that has overtaken South Korea in the past two years.
Korean TV is obsessed with food at the moment and loyal female viewers with the shows’ famous chef-hosts.
Dominating the airwaves in South Korea and regionally are shows with an ingenious combination of foodie culture and celebrity challenges.
Top-rated programmes include Please Take Care Of My Refrigerator, a weekly programme where chefs are tasked to rustle up a meal using ingredients from celebrities’ fridges – a winning formula that combines idol voyeurism and mouthwatering recipes.
Idols whose fridges have been raided include rapper G-Dragon, rookie girl group Twice and actor Lee Jae Hoon.
Then there are the shows that appeal to viewers because they get to see celebrities doing something “normal” – such as whipping up a meal.
In Three Meals A Day, K-pop idol Ok Taecyeon and actor Lee Seo Jin are sent to a village to cook, well, three meals a day.
Home Food Rescue features another celebrity chef, Paik Jong Won, teaching four clueless celebrities – comedian Jang Dong Min, singer Jung Joon Young and actors Kim Guk Jin and Lee Jong Hyuk – how to cook in the second season.
Paik also has his own programme, Go Go With Mr Paik, where he whips up local delicacies while travelling through South-east Asia.
The popularity of such cooking shows has spread beyond Korean shores.
In Singapore, Korean cable channel tvN Asia reports that cooking travelogue Go Go With Mr Paik and cooking contest Masterchef Korea 4 earned the highest ratings out of 45 programmes aired here in the third quarter of this year.
Last year, Sony’s Korean entertainment channel One expanded its offerings beyond K-drama and K-pop programmes to include K-cooking shows.
It added famed chef Paik’s cook-off show Nation’s Big Three last year, and recently premiered Chinese cuisine show The Great Chinese Food Battle last month.
Streaming service Viu’s Korean catalogue includes cooking reality show Three Meals A Day and My Little Television, which features a cooking lesson segment that launched the TV career of chef Paik.
The proliferation of K-cooking shows are a natural continuation of the Korean wave, which has largely been driven by K-dramas and K-pop, says Ms Virginia Lim, senior vice-president and head of content, production and marketing, and networks for Asia at Sony Pictures Television.
She adds: “The love of Korean food, culture and lifestyle has spread through the popularity of South Korean dramas and entertainment shows.”
Singaporean viewer Candy Tan, 25, agrees.
“I wouldn’t have known about K-cooking shows if I didn’t watch Korean variety shows,” the advertising account executive says.
She watched Three Meals A Day because it was produced by Na Young Seok, who is the same person behind variety shows such as the popular celebrity travelogue programmes Grandpa Over Flowers and Youth Over Flowers.
For another viewer, hotel sales director Cynthia Koh, 49, watching actors eat Korean dishes in K-dramas got her into K-cooking shows.
“Every Korean drama will feature food – be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. The food looks really appetising. Watching the actors eat it, I felt that I could actually taste it.”
She would satisfy her cravings by going to the Korean restaurant near her workplace for lunch.
But now she also turns to cooking shows such as Home Food Rescue.
She says: “In Home Food Rescue, the cooking methods are explained simply and clearly by chef Paik, who injects plenty of humour along the way.
“Watching celebrities learn how to cook is hilarious and relatable.”
“Relatable” is the key word differentiating the new generation of cooking shows from their predecessors.
In the past, such programmes typically had viewers in awe of the professionals’ fancy cooking techniques, says Korean cable channel tvN producer Paek Seung Lyong.
Now, the emphasis is on recipes that are simple and easy-to-follow.
Citing the amiable cooking guru Paik, he says: “Chef Paik gives confidence to beginners to try out his simple cooking methods.
“People posted their homemade dishes on social media and the recipes got popular.”
In fact, Ms Tan was inspired to make kimchi and tuna stew after watching actors prepare the dish on Three Meals A Day in a fishing village.
She says: “I usually don’t eat tuna because of its fishy smell, but I saw an episode where the stew made by the cast looked so good, I went and tried it out myself.
“Surprisingly, the flavours of tuna and kimchi go well together.”
Perhaps the appeal of K-cooking shows simply lies in the universal language of food.
Korean chef Lee Yeon Bok, 57, who makes regular TV appearances in South Korea, says: “Though not everyone cooks, everyone shares a love of eating.
“The appeal of a cooking show lies in watching all the ingredients coming together to form a beautiful plate of food. It’s irresistible.”
Lee Yeon Bok
Photo: One
Fans of Korean chef Lee Yeon Bok are known to go up to him on the streets and say: “Can you take care of my fridge too?”
The question is a reference to Please Take Care Of My Refrigerator, a popular cooking show in which he and other chefs raid celebrities’ refrigerators and then use the ingredients found inside to whip up dishes in 15 minutes.
As one of the regulars on the hit TV programme since 2014, the 57-year-old Lee, who specialises in Chinese cuisine, is now a household name in South Korea.
He makes regular appearances on other shows, too, such as The Great Chinese Food Battle, where chefs are pitted against one another in a Chinese cuisine cook-off.
His soft-spoken demeanour belies the creativity of his fusion dishes, such as the fried sirloin beef drizzled with spicy sweet and sour sauce, which impressed the guests in the first episode.
His TV appearances have translated to a great following off-screen, too. His Chinese restaurant Mokran in Seoul, which he has been running since 1998, is often fully booked and attracts a star-studded clientele such as the members of the supergroup BigBang and Yoona of girl group Girls’ Generation.
In an e-mail interview with The Straits Times, he says things can get “awkward” when he is approached while he is talking to his chefs in the restaurant or while he is out shopping and carrying bags of ingredients.
“I’m not used to the attention, but I understand that being on TV means becoming a public personality.”
His TV ambitions remain rooted in his passion for food.
“I am on TV because I love what I do and I am able to share that joy and my interest with everyone out there.”
His love affair with Chinese cuisine began in his teens when he worked as a delivery boy for a Chinese restaurant.
He says: “There was so much going on in the kitchen – the fiery wok, live seafood in the tank, the endless chatter and laughs. It was just fascinating.”
He went on to work at a Chinese restaurant in a hotel at age 17 and then moved on at 22 to become a chef at the Taiwanese embassy in South Korea.
Even with his numerous TV appearances, he insists that his day job comes first.
For example, he still spends his daily lunch breaks wrapping 400 dumplings at Mokran.
He says: “A lot of young chefs find that it is hard work to make dumplings. Wrapping dumplings reminds me not to take the easy way out and never to take things in life for granted.”
The Great Chinese Food Battle airs on Mondays at 8pm on One (StarHub TV Channels 124, 820 and 823; Singtel TV Channels 513 and 604)
Paik Jong Won
Photo: tvN Asia
He is the Jamie Oliver of the Korean culinary world.
Like the British chef-restaurateur, Paik Jong Won has multiple TV shows and runs a food and beverage empire with 28 brands and hundreds of outlets in Asia and the United States.
Singaporeans may be familiar with his eateries here, which include BBQ restaurant Bornga, Korean express food outlet Paik’s Bibimbap and cafe chain Paik’s Coffee.
What’s the secret to his success?
Imperfection, he says.
Speaking through a translator, the 50-year-old tells The Straits Times that his first TV appearance was on My Little Television, a live cooking show.
“Chefs usually don’t like to do live television because their mistakes will be broadcast. I took it as a challenge.
“I think people took to me because I made mistakes while cooking. It gave them confidence to learn how to cook.”
My Little Television is a live Internet show comprising individual segments helmed by celebrity guests vying to attract the highest viewership for each episode.
Last year, Paik’s cooking demonstration overtook other programmes such as a mixed martial arts match and fashion makeover segment to be the reigning ratings champion.
One of the reasons for his popularity was his, well, imperfection.
Once he added too much sugar while making steamed buns, and then told the viewers: “You can just dip the bun in less syrup when you eat it later.”
Another time he was splattered by oil while stir-frying congealed blocks of leftover jajangmyeon or black bean paste noodles.
Mistakes aside, audiences love him for his deep knowledge of ingredients and cooking techniques.
So popular is he that he anchors three other shows on his own: Cooking 101 show Home Food Rescue, foodie programme The Nation’s Big Three and cooking travelogue Go Go With Mr Paik.
He was in town earlier this week with K-pop idols Onew and Jung Chae Yeon to film the Singapore episodes of Go Go With Mr Paik.
He whipped up the Singapore delights of laksa and chicken rice using ingredients purchased from markets in Little India and Chinatown.
His lack of formal culinary training, to him, is an advantage.
Paik, who was a trader in building materials before establishing his food business The Born Korea in 1993, says: “I didn’t get tied down to following specific know-how or sticking strictly to recipes. I try to remember the taste of the dish and recreate it in a simple and easy manner.
As a businessman, he is a stickler for detail, though, travelling to Singapore twice a year to check on his franchise outlets.
“Customers are discerning. Even if audiences visit my restaurants because of my shows, the quality of the food and drinks must be good for them to make repeat visits.”
Food is not merely his means of living, it is his life.
Even on days off, the family man enjoys preparing meals for his family of three – actress So Yoo Jin, 35, and their two-year-old son and one-year-old daughter.
The meal duties are split 60-40 with his wife, with the doting husband taking on the majority because his wife is busy filming dramas.
He says: “I feel really fortunate to be able to cook for the people I love. I feel rejuvenated seeing the happy faces of people when they tuck into the meals I have prepared for them.”
Go Go With Paik in Singapore airs on Dec 19 and 26 at 10.30pm on tvN (Singtel TV Channels 518 and 619 and StarHub TV Channel 824 )
My Little Television series is available on viu.com and the Viu app, which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Food shows to savour
PLEASE TAKE CARE OF MY REFRIGERATOR
Photo: YouTube screengrab
Started in 2014, this programme features chefs competing against one another to cook the best meal using ingredients found in the refrigerator of a featured celebrity. Yes, the show is a 15-minute cooking contest, but it is also an excuse to peek into the private lives of stars.
For example, members of boyband GOT7 share a fridge with a huge supply of ice cream and with each member scribbling his name on his personal tub.
BigBang member Taeyang is revealed to be a Korean food fanatic, too, with his fridge stocked with kimchi and spicy pepper powder.
Each season, a celebrity cast is sent packing to either a rural village or a remote island, where he has to cook three meals a day from scratch.
The city slickers have to get used to a more primitive way of life, which in volves chopping firewood, cooking over a wood fire, harvesting crops or fishing.
The first season in 2014, starring the grumpy actor Lee Seo Jin and the ever-optimistic K-pop hunk Taecyeon (above), was a huge hit.
Since then, various other line-ups have been featured. The show is now in its sixth season, featuring Lee, actor Yoon Kyun Sang and Eric Mun of boyband Shinhwa.
Watch: Three Meals a Day – Fishing Village 3 airs on tvN on Saturdays at 9pm. The first season is available on Viu.
HOME FOOD RESCUE
In this weekly show, chef Paik Jong Won runs a cooking class for four clueless guys.
In the show’s second season, the students are singer Jung Joon Young, comedian Jang Dong Min,and actors Kim Guk Jin and Lee Jong Hyuk.
Paik has a simple, step-by-step approach to cooking. In an episode on cubed radish kimchi, he had to teach his bumbling students how to wash a radish thoroughly.
Watch: Home Food Rescue 2 airs on tvN on Fridays at 11pm.
THE NATION’S BIG THREE
In this programme, Chef Paik Jong Won goes around South Korea sussing out the best restaurants and eateries, and then invites the cooks to the TV studio to whip up dishes for celebrity guests.
Watch: The series is available on Viu and airs on channel One on Wednesdays at 11pm.
This article was first published on Nov 05, 2016. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>On stage at food festival Taste Busan in South Korea, facing a crowd of more than 100 adoring fans, Choi Hyun Seok sings a song and plays the guitar.</p>
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